Chalga
Encyclopedia
Chalga is a Bulgarian music genre. It is a blend of Arabic, Balkan, Bulgarian, Greek and Turkish
influences, as well as motives from flamenco
, filmi
and klezmer
music. It is known for repeating musical themes and dance rhythms, which are known as kyuchek
in Bulgarian.
(an end-blown Flute
). Playing in groups at festivals or weddings, these performers initiated the popularization of chalga.
, the last Communist leader of Bulgaria, decided to take a more nationalistic tack in the 1980s, such traditions were regarded as inferior to those with more purely Slavic roots. Chalga also came with a provocative hip-shaking dance and at times lewd lyrics, so it was also considered inappropriate from a moral standpoint.
While discouraged in Bulgaria, a similar type of music called Turbofolk was met with less restriction in neighboring SFR Yugoslavia.
Throughout the Balkans, Folk traditions have been modernized. In Greece
, pop music incorporated the traditions of Laïko
("Popular"), a genre based mainly on the Melos of Asia Minor Greeks. Many of its tunes were later borrowed by pop-folk musicians in Bulgaria. Laïkó's relative known as "Skiladiko
" is close to early Bulgarian Chalga, as exemplified by the Kristal Orchestra and others. In Turkey, Arabesque music
, a mixture of local and Middle Eastern influences, has become increasingly popular since the 1960s.
, pop-folk legends Konstantin, Desi Slava
, Ivana and Anelia
came onto the scene. Several recording studios such as Payner and Planeta pump out a steady stream of tracks every week on dedicated TV channels.
and Greek laika in popularity. Chalga could also deal openly with ideas like sex, money, and even the cross-dressing sexual provocation of Azis
.
Among the other styles competing (and in some cases merging) with Chalga (Ustata, a rap
per, and Sofi Marinova
, an ethnic Roma singer, formed a duet) are most notably rap and hip hop music
, represented by artists and groups like Dope Reach Squad
, Upsurt
, Big Sha, 100 Kila, Spens
and Mangasarian Bros. Rap has also gained commercial success in Sofia
and Varna
, as well as in many televised videos.
Today chalga record companies collaborate and work with partners mainly from the other Balkan countries, making this type of Bulgarian music popular both in Bulgaria
and abroad in the Balkans
.
, a cross-dressing Bulgarian gypsy man, touches his genitals in most of his videos and he is shown having sex with other men (in a church in "Азис - Хайде Почвай Ме"). In a song with Toni Storaro, a male Bulgarian-Turkish singer, the lyrics read: Other songs of Toni Storaro's include lyrics such as:
Chalga texts can be sung in many languages but are often sung in Bulgarian. Sometimes the lyrics contain a mixture of languages – Bulgarian is often mixed with Turkish or Romani
, and sometimes with Serbian, English, Spanish, or Arabic. Some songs are sung entirely in Romani or Turkish. There are even examples of Macedonian contemporary (newly-composed) folk songs sung by Bulgarian chalga singers in folk festivals in neighboring Macedonia. These songs are sung in Macedonian
and have an arrangement closer to Macedonian folk music, but also contain chalga elements.
Chalga proponents often say it is the new Bulgarian folk music, although it has no connection to the national folklore roots, and its only folklore elements are oriental and Roma.
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
influences, as well as motives from flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
, filmi
Filmi
Filmi is Indian popular music as written and performed for Indian cinema. Music directors make up the main body of composers; the songs are performed by playback singers and it makes up 72% of the music sales in India....
and klezmer
Klezmer
Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...
music. It is known for repeating musical themes and dance rhythms, which are known as kyuchek
Cocek
Čoček is a musical genre and dance that emerged in the Balkans during the early 19th century...
in Bulgarian.
History
The name Chalga is derived from the Turkish word Çalgı, meaning "musical instrument". A Chalgadzhia (in Turkish Çalgıcı) was a performer who could play virtually any type of music, adding his or her own distinctive beat or rhythm to the song. Often a Chalgadzhia would not be able to read music, but instead play from memory on his or her KavalKaval
The kaval is a chromatic end-blown flute traditionally played throughout Azerbaijan, Turkey, Hungary, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo, southern Serbia , northern Greece , Romania , and Armenia...
(an end-blown Flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
). Playing in groups at festivals or weddings, these performers initiated the popularization of chalga.
Behind The Iron Curtain
During the socialist period, Chalga was viewed negatively by the government for many reasons. When Todor ZhivkovTodor Zhivkov
Todor Khristov Zhivkov was a communist politician and leader of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from March 4, 1954 until November 10, 1989....
, the last Communist leader of Bulgaria, decided to take a more nationalistic tack in the 1980s, such traditions were regarded as inferior to those with more purely Slavic roots. Chalga also came with a provocative hip-shaking dance and at times lewd lyrics, so it was also considered inappropriate from a moral standpoint.
While discouraged in Bulgaria, a similar type of music called Turbofolk was met with less restriction in neighboring SFR Yugoslavia.
Throughout the Balkans, Folk traditions have been modernized. In Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, pop music incorporated the traditions of Laïko
Laïko
Laïkó ), is a Greek music genre. Also called folk song or urban folk music , in its plural form is a Greek music genre which has taken many forms over the years...
("Popular"), a genre based mainly on the Melos of Asia Minor Greeks. Many of its tunes were later borrowed by pop-folk musicians in Bulgaria. Laïkó's relative known as "Skiladiko
Skiladiko
Skiladiko , , is a derogatory term to describe laiko music or a so-called "decadent" form of laiko and it derives from the Greek for dog , meaning "dogish" or "doghouse", and the current nightclubs in Greece in which Greek folk music is performed...
" is close to early Bulgarian Chalga, as exemplified by the Kristal Orchestra and others. In Turkey, Arabesque music
Arabesque music
Arabesque or Arabesk is a genre termed so by Turkish musicologists for Arabic-style music created in Turkey. The genre was particularly popular in Turkey in the decades from the 1960s through 1990s. As with Arabic music itself, its aesthetics have evolved over the decades...
, a mixture of local and Middle Eastern influences, has become increasingly popular since the 1960s.
Post-Communist surge
In 1989, when the Zhivkov regime fell, restrictions were lifted. The "new" and "Forbidden" were released. A new generation of musicians grabbed the public spotlight, performing songs that might have led to official sanctions only a year before. Chalga also reached the mass media. Though it was still widely considered degenerate music, it managed to gain popularity in the following decade. After early folk divas such as Toni Dacheva, the singer of Kristal Orchestra, stars such as Dve Mogili-born GloriaGloria (singer)
Galina Peneva Ivanova , better known as Gloria , is a famous Bulgarian Pop, Dance, Rock, and Pop folk singer. Arguably the most popular of her generation, she is known as the Mother of pop-folk....
, pop-folk legends Konstantin, Desi Slava
Desi Slava
Desislava Ivanova Doneva , better known as Desi Slava is a Bulgarian singer of pop-folk and pop music. Desi Slava is considered to be one of the greatest voices of contemporary Bulgarian music, being able to perform in different styles, from jazz to rock and pop-folk.Slava had a son in 2000, who...
, Ivana and Anelia
Anelia
Anelia Georgieva Atanasova , best known as Anelia, is a Bulgarian pop-folk singer. She gained popularity in Bulgaria with her second single "Pogledni me v ochite"...
came onto the scene. Several recording studios such as Payner and Planeta pump out a steady stream of tracks every week on dedicated TV channels.
Chalga in the new century
By the 2000s, Chalga's popularity increased, overtaking the pop-folk genres of neighboring Serbian Turbo-folkTurbo-folk
Turbo-folk is a popular musical sub-genre that originated in Serbia, the Balkans. Having mainstream popularity in Serbia, although closely associated with Serbian performers, its sound is as popular in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro...
and Greek laika in popularity. Chalga could also deal openly with ideas like sex, money, and even the cross-dressing sexual provocation of Azis
Azis
Azis is a Bulgarian Romani chalga singer known for, among other things, his atypical gender expression and his flamboyant persona....
.
Among the other styles competing (and in some cases merging) with Chalga (Ustata, a rap
Rap
Rap may refer to:*Rapping, performance in which rhyming lyrics are used, with or without musical accompaniment ; while an MC performs spoken verses in time to a beat/ melody**Hip hop subculture**Hip hop music...
per, and Sofi Marinova
Sofi Marinova
Sofi Marinova is a chalga singer from Bulgaria.Her boyfriend as of 2010 is "Dacho", who appeared on the third season of VIP Brother in Bulgaria.-Albums:*Edinstven moi/Only Mine *Moiat sun/My Dream...
, an ethnic Roma singer, formed a duet) are most notably rap and hip hop music
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
, represented by artists and groups like Dope Reach Squad
Dope Reach Squad
Dope Reach Squad or DRS is a Bulgarian hip-hop and reggae group. They originated as a graffiti crew in the city of Dobrich in 1998.In 2001 they collaborated with many other artists such as Nokaut, 187 Clan, DJ Ivo Glavata, Scum, Naste, Kaska, Dani, and Juliana to produce their first album, "Urok...
, Upsurt
Upsurt
Upsurt is a Bulgarian rap-band founded in the beginning of 1996 by childhood friends Itso Hazarta, Butch, Bat Ventsi and Panchev. Their first records were recorded in Sudibula studio in January 1996. After a while, Shlevi Panchev left the band and only three members remained...
, Big Sha, 100 Kila, Spens
Spens
Spens , is a Bulgarian hip hop artist. He was born in Pleven on October 13, 1975.As a high school student he recorded amateur songs using nothing but a synthesizer and tape deck. After graduation in 1994, he moved to the capital city of Sofia to pursue studies in computer information technologies...
and Mangasarian Bros. Rap has also gained commercial success in Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
and Varna
Varna
Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011...
, as well as in many televised videos.
Today chalga record companies collaborate and work with partners mainly from the other Balkan countries, making this type of Bulgarian music popular both in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
and abroad in the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
.
Criticism
Chalga is popular in so-called "chalga dance clubs" and chalga-oriented pubs. Most chalga clubs are called 'клуб' (club). Chalga clubs are sometimes the most exclusive venues in town. For the most popular clubs, tables must be reserved a week in advance, while for most others same-day reservations are common. The popularity of the music among wealthy Bulgarians is a great stimulus for investors, and this results in expensive interiors and exteriors of the clubs as well as an above-average level of service. Although it is widely acclaimed by the masses (and by foreigners) as an interesting modern approach to pop and a great way for entertainment, there is also some public dislike of the genre. It is often criticized by some people for perceived tawdriness, loose morals, the shocking look of its singers, its Eastern and Arabic roots, and its lyrics. Chalga clubs are often places where underage individuals can enter without the need of an ID, where alcohol is sold freely and where sexual relations can be made. There are certain clubs with "childrens' parties" where mainly chalga is played and alcohol and cigarettes are main factors, apart from the sexually provocative dress code and the erotic belly dancing and touching.Lyrics and Music Videos
Modern day chalga lyrics take advantage of the Bulgarian's unwillingness to speak for himself and the fallen morals of the nation's people. Every new song written post-2010 has strong sexual content without any censorship and is oriented mainly towards underage teenagers and minors, while chalga music videos played nonstop on the only type of music television of Bulgaria - chalga-oriented music television channels have started displaying various sex scenes a few years earlier. There is a tendency for chalga singers to go through extensive plastic surgery procedures before they reach the medias. Most common attributes include breast, lip and hip enhancement and removal of excess fat. In most, if not all, chalga music videos, the women are wearing provocative clothing, heavy makeup and fashionable hairstyles to a point where they cannot be differed from regular Bulgarian street prostitutes (they wear lingire in the videos, if not nude by other means; there are many videos in which the singer is nude or is surrounded by nude men or women, if not within a bathtub or slightly covered by blankets in a bed, often bare naked with a small blurred or pixelized area around the genitals and the nipples in females, excluding Azis, who displays his breasts as a female's, strapping off his bra), thus it is commonly assumed that they have sex with the company owners to get into the business. The most noticeable pop-folk artist, AzisAzis
Azis is a Bulgarian Romani chalga singer known for, among other things, his atypical gender expression and his flamboyant persona....
, a cross-dressing Bulgarian gypsy man, touches his genitals in most of his videos and he is shown having sex with other men (in a church in "Азис - Хайде Почвай Ме"). In a song with Toni Storaro, a male Bulgarian-Turkish singer, the lyrics read: Other songs of Toni Storaro's include lyrics such as:
Chalga texts can be sung in many languages but are often sung in Bulgarian. Sometimes the lyrics contain a mixture of languages – Bulgarian is often mixed with Turkish or Romani
Romani language
Romani or Romany, Gypsy or Gipsy is any of several languages of the Romani people. They are Indic, sometimes classified in the "Central" or "Northwestern" zone, and sometimes treated as a branch of their own....
, and sometimes with Serbian, English, Spanish, or Arabic. Some songs are sung entirely in Romani or Turkish. There are even examples of Macedonian contemporary (newly-composed) folk songs sung by Bulgarian chalga singers in folk festivals in neighboring Macedonia. These songs are sung in Macedonian
Macedonian language
Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
and have an arrangement closer to Macedonian folk music, but also contain chalga elements.
"The village bathroom"
"Doko Doko"
Pyramids, Pharohs
Tiger, Tiger
Academic research
The controversy about chalga has led to some musical and linguistic research, and to a great number of public discussions.Chalga proponents often say it is the new Bulgarian folk music, although it has no connection to the national folklore roots, and its only folklore elements are oriental and Roma.
See also
- Arabesque (Turkish music)
- LaïkaLaikaLaika was a Soviet space dog that became the first animal to orbit the Earth – as well as the first animal to die in orbit.As little was known about the impact of spaceflight on living creatures at the time of Laika's mission, and the technology to de-orbit had not yet been developed, there...
- LaïkóLaïkóLaïkó ), is a Greek music genre. Also called folk song or urban folk music , in its plural form is a Greek music genre which has taken many forms over the years...
- ManeleManeleManele is a music style from Romania, generally associated with the Romani minority, though not exclusively....
- SkiladikoSkiladikoSkiladiko , , is a derogatory term to describe laiko music or a so-called "decadent" form of laiko and it derives from the Greek for dog , meaning "dogish" or "doghouse", and the current nightclubs in Greece in which Greek folk music is performed...
- Turbo-folkTurbo-folkTurbo-folk is a popular musical sub-genre that originated in Serbia, the Balkans. Having mainstream popularity in Serbia, although closely associated with Serbian performers, its sound is as popular in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro...
External links
- Chalga playlist - Chalga playlist
- Music-Bulgaria.com - List of Bulgarian chalga CDs
- Brigada - Chalga - Popfolk - Mashups
- ChalgaBox - The newest Balkan pop-folk and chalga music
- Chalga music - Everything about chalga music - articles, videos, mp3, mixes
- BIAD - Website of Bulgarian Chalga club